Giving You Trouble
by pastries and turtlenecks
Summary: Elder Price isn't going to let anyone give Elder McKinley trouble for being who he is.  Based on an asktheelders post .


"Some of the Elders know. The ones that do have been okay about it. One or two had a little bit of a problem, but I understand why. I haven't really mentioned it to the Ugandans…"

"Wait, some of the Elders had a problem with it?"

"I think we need to sit down and talk with everyone tonight."

"It's okay."

"It's _not_ okay!" Elder Price said, practically slamming his fist down into the table. "Who was it? I want to know exactly who had a problem and what he said to you."

"Elder Price, I told you, it's fine. I'm alright," Elder McKinley said softly. "I don't want to make this a bigger deal than it is."

"It kind of is a big deal," Arnold said, much calmer than his companion. He stood up and put a hand on Elder Price's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, but the brunette was too busy running a hand through his hair in frustration and gritting his teeth. "This is something that's really important to you and if your friends aren't behind you one hundred percent, we need to do something about it."

"Was it Schrader?" Elder Price cut in suddenly, anger still evident in his voice. "I always knew there was something up with that guy, the way he would always –"

"Kevin, calm down!" Elder McKinley said firmly. Kevin looked at him expectantly. "It wasn't Elder Schrader. He and most of the others were fine with it. It's just that Elder Neely and Elder Michaels were a little –"

He didn't have time to finish his sentence, as Kevin had stormed out of the room as soon as he had names, Arnold quickly following after. Elder McKinley sighed and rubbed his temples, not totally sure if he wanted to go after them. Maybe if he stayed out of it, it would all go away…

"Hey!" Kevin said a bit too loudly, addressing the rest of the Elders who were busy innocently playing board games in the living area. "I've got something I need to say to some of you." Arnold stood silently behind his companion, looking much less angry but firm still.

"I'm assuming all of you know that Elder McKinley has recently been coming to terms with something," he began, trying not to glare daggers at a certain pair of missionaries. "And I just wanted to let a few of you know how _disgusted_ I am that he hasn't been met with complete support. Do you have any idea how _hard_ that was for him? How he's actually tried to _end his own life_ because he was sure he'd be hated his entire life because of this?" There was a common look of confusion on each Elder's face, which only served to make Kevin angrier. "Don't act like you have no idea what I'm talking about! I'm looking at you two, Neely and Michaels."

The two men glanced at each other before Elder Neely spoke up. "Look, Elder Price, all we're trying to say is -"

"I don't care what you're _trying_ to say, because no matter what you _think_ you're saying, what he's getting from this is that you think he's 'wrong' or 'bad' for being _himself_."

"Get off our backs, Kevin!" Elder Michaels cut in. "You seriously expect us to just be totally okay with finding out a guy we've been sharing a house with for months is a queer? He could have been checking us out or watching us sleep!"

Arnold was seriously concerned for his companion, as he'd never seen the brunette so utterly enraged before. "You have got to be kidding me. People call me conceited but you must think awful highly of yourself if you believe everyone interested in men wants to jump you."

"It still changes things," Elder Neely piped in quietly. All of the other Elders sat in stunned silence as Kevin took a few steps closer to them.

"It changes things, huh? Well, if that's the case, what if I told you I'm just like Elder McKinley? What if I told you I like men too? Am I suddenly a different person?" He made a show of examining his body. "Nope, same old Kevin Price you know and admire. The same goes for Connor. He's still the same person. He's still our District Leader, and honestly, a lot of you would probably have gotten eaten by a lion if it weren't for him."

There was an awkward silence as the other Elders exchanged confused glances. "Are you really, Elder Price?" Elder Thomas asked sheepishly, afraid of his head being bitten off.

"Does it matter?" Kevin spat out. "Who I find attractive should be irrelevant to all of you because it has nothing to do with spreading the word of Christ! None of you need to concern yourselves with who Connor and I would want to sleep with because trust me, none of you would make that list."

With that, Kevin turned on his heel and headed back to Elder McKinley's room, practically punching a wall on his way out. Arnold stayed behind to do some damage control.

Connor quickly wiped his eyes as Kevin entered the room, but the tears were still evident on his face. Kevin sat down next to him and put an arm around his shoulder. The pair sat in silence for a few moments before the brunette spoke up. "Are you alright?"

The older man was silent for a moment, still trying to hide the evidence of his tears. "Was all that true?" Connor asked. He left the question ambiguous but knew Kevin would understand.

He shrugged. "Like I said, that doesn't matter. What matters is that they won't be giving you any trouble from now on, I promise."

Connor leaned his head on Kevin's shoulder, and Kevin ignored the tears dampening his shirt. "You didn't have to do that," Connor said, voice sounding small.

Kevin tightened his hold on Connor's shoulders and rubbed circles in his arm with his thumb. "You deserved better than that, Connor," he said softly, gently tilting Connor's head by his chin to look him in the eye.

The two just stared at each other for a moment, until Connor's lips curled into a small smile. His tears began to flow more steadily as he buried his face in Kevin's chest, choking out a muffled "Thank you."


End file.
